Gouri Yogalingam

Occupation: LysoSENS Team Lead
Academic Institution: SENS Foundation and Stanford University
Academic Status: Professor/Fellow
Academic Field: Lysosomal biology
Biography: I am a cell biologist with an interest in how lysosomes contribute to normal cellular function as well as the pathogenesis of aging. Here at LysoSENS I have taken on a very challenging project aimed towards clearing A2E, a compound that progressively accumulates in the lysosomes of retinal pigment epithelial cells and contributes to the onset of age related macular degeneration. At Stanford University in Daria Mochly-Rosen's lab I am optimizing a cell-based model for ischemia-reperfusion injury, a type of injury that occurs in cardiomyocytes during myocardial infarction. I am using this model to study how protein kinase c contributes to cell death in cardiomyocytes. In my postdoctoral studies at St Jude Children's Research Hospital, in Sandra d'Azzo's lab, I worked on understanding why, in some instances, lysosomes dock at the plasma membrane and release their contents extracellularly. I did my PhD training in Adelaide, South Australia, working on the mutations that cause lysosomal storage disease.